Numa Pompilius lived in the Sabine town of Cures. (Livy, 1.17)
Numa was deeply learned in all the laws of God and man. Some historians owed Numa's learnings to Pythagoras of Samos; however, Livy believes that Numa's inteligence resulted from the harsh, austere discipline of the ancient Sabines, most incorruptible of men. (Livy, 1.17-18)
Numa ruled for forty-three years before his death; in comparison, Romulus reigned for thirty-seven years. (Livy, 1.21)
Plutarch, a Roman historian, tells us that Numa was born on the day of Rome's founding.
Plutarch tells us that Numa was the youngest of Pomponius's four sons.
Plutarch tells us that Numa married Tatia, the only daughter of Titus Tatius, the king of Sabines, and that Tatia died after only 13 years of marriage. Tatia gave Numa one daughter, Pompilia, and five sons.
Accomplishments
Numa Coin 97 BCE
Became the second king of Rome after Romulus died. He was offered the throne in 717 BC, and first refused the kingship but then was persuaded to take it by his Father and kinsmen. (Livy, 1.18)
Numa Pompilius gave Rome a second beginning by the use of laws and religion. (Livy, 1.19)
Becasue these new laws could not be learned while the Romans were fighting in war, Numa built the temple of Janus to serve as a symbol of peace and war. (Livy, 1.9)
When the Temple was open it signified that the city was at war. When closed, the Temple showed Rome that war had ended between neighboring people. (Livy, 1.19)
Numa made alliences through treaties with neighboring communities. This led to the closing of the Temple of Janus. (Livy, 1.19)
Numa inspried the Romans by the use of fear. To get the people to fear the Gods, Numa made up a tale about his visits to Egeria. He explained that she was the authority that guided him in the rites he made for Rome. (Livy, 1.19)
King Numa divided the year into twelve lunar months. (Livy, 1.19)
Numa inserted months into the calender so the cycle would be completed every twelve years. This kept the days positioned with the sun. (Livy, 1.19)
Numa fixed lawful and unlawful days, these are days when public businesses might or might not be transacted (Livy, 1.19)
Numa appointed new priests. He appointed the Priest of Juppiter on a permanent basis, this showed the importance of the priest and kept the religious duties from falling apart. (Livy, 1.20)
Numa also created two other preisthoods, Mars and Quirinus (Livy, 1.20)
Numa appointed virgin priesthoods to the Service of Vesta, which was cult that originated in Alba. (Livy, 1.20)
Numa also introduced the twelve Salii (Leaping Frogs) to serve Mars Gradivus. Their duty was the carry the sacred shields as they moved throughout Rome. (Livy, 1.20)
Numa appointed a Pontifex and gave them the right to both public and private matters. This allowed ordinary people to consult the Pontifex if they needed advice. (Livy, 1.20)
Numa's greatest achivement was ability to strengthen Rome by the use of peace. This led to a more independent city. (Livy, 1.21)
Fun Facts
Numa Pompilius's history is considered legend because of a number of inconsistencies in the data recorded about him. The most famous was that he was a friend of Pythagoras
Numa's peaceful reign lasted 43 years
Numa Pompilius died in 673 BC of old age. He was succeeded by Tullus Hostilius.
His reign as King was seen as a Golden Age
The Romans attributed religous festivals and sacrifices towards Numa
He was regarded as the wisest of the seven kings by the Romans
Numa Pompilius was born on the day Rome was found
Numa was the youngest of four sons, his father was Pomponius
Numa lived a life of discipline and banished all luxury from his home.
Significance
Numa Pompilius, the new king of Rome, gave the community a second beginning. Originally Rome had been founded by the force of arms, but Numa founded Rome on the solid basis of law and religious observance. (Livy, 1.19)
Romulus added strength to Rome through war, but Numa used peace to add strength to the growing city. When Numa died, Rome was eminent for self-mastery as for military power due to the twin disciplines of peace and war that were instilled in Rome by Numa and Romulus. (Livy, 1.21)
Numa first introduced the 12 lunar months that are similar to today's calender. (Livy 1.19)
Numa made religious observance a priority in Rome when he appointed priests who would ensure that the religious duties attached to the royal office should never be allowed to lapse. (Livy 1.20)
Numa introduced the population of Rome to many new things to think about and attend to that everybody was diverted from military preoccupations. (Livy 1.21)
During Numa's reign, Romans became so much absorbed in the cultivation of religion and so deeply imbued with the sense of their religious duties, that sanctity of an oath had more power to control their lives than the fear of punishment for lawbreaking. (Livy 1.21)
Roman men modeled themselves after Numa's example. Numa's influence even spread into neighboring territories. (Livy 1.21)
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Coin of Rome. Shows Numa Pompilius at the altar sacrificing a goat.
Numa Pompilius
Biography
Accomplishments
Fun Facts
Significance
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Source:
Livy, Numa Pompilius (1.17-1.21) The History of Rome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Pompilius
Pictures:
http://www.crystalinks.com/pompilius.html
**www.the-romans.co.uk/ legends03.htm**